wildphotographer27's Favorites

While investigating snow leopard kill sites, we (@otocolobus) encountered two ~5 week old cubs at a secondary den site. Cubs were well hidden in a rock hollow beneath an overhanging Lonicera shrub.

Wonderful to stumble upon concrete signs of successful reproduction springing from Kyrgyzstan's continued commitment to meaningful snow leopard conservation.

been trying to figure out where this bird was for two years... persistence, a hunch and a tip put this one on my life list after I shed a few tears, did a jig, and gave out a loud yelp later in the day

hunting from nearby tree, about 10:30am, looking intently down at snow, then landed and mantled for a couple of minutes, burying its head into the snow several times before flying off in the opposite direction

Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...

A large male emerging from hibernation. The large size of this individual clearly shows that most bears here feed through winter around army camps and villages. The presence of food coupled with erratic winter snow cover leads to an interrupted winter hibernation. In recent years it is common place here to see bears emerging for a few days in January, feeding and then going back to their hibernation sites.

I was attracted to the ruckus made by crows from a tree, about 200 m. from where I stood. Expecting them to be mobbing an unfortunate owl or bird of prey, I approached the tree, taking my time. The mobbing persisted.

When I finally reached the spot some ten minutes later I could see some 30+ House Crows cawing and flying around the target tree, which was a modest, barren tree with slender branches on which I first noticed the swinging of a bushy tail.

On approaching closer, I saw the small, fawn-coloured cat trying to get down from the tree but getting intimidated by the pestering crows that kept flying close or landing close to it on the tree, calling loudly all the while.

It was really unfortunate that these very circumstances that made this elusive animal uncomfortable opened up a rare window of opportunity for me to photograph it. For the next few minutes, I kept clicking as the crows prevented the cat from climbing down the tree and escape into the undergrowth.

As this drama was getting enacted, the poor animal seized opportunity to escape when a male Oriental Honey Buzzard flew in to land just 5 m. above my head on a young Eucalyptus tree. Momentarily, the crows got distracted with the unexpected arrival of this raptor that the cat was forgotten and the entire bunch landed seeking the buzzard's blood!

When I took my eyes off the honey buzzard and looked at the tree on which the harassed cat was stuck for the past several minutes, I was so happy to see it empty, the animal having used this diversion of attention of the crows away from itself to climb down and melt into the tangled undergrowth.

Though known to occur in lightly wooded rocky and scrub-covered areas, the Rusty-spotted Cat is rarely seen in the open and hence not often reported or photographed. I think it was one of those rare days and I was happy to be able to use the opportunity to photo-document this smallest wild cat.

leucistic hawk. Just north of Globe on AZ 188.

Fantastic and lucky to see on our trip to NE side of Lake Roosevelt this beautiful hawk. I thought it was a barn owl or white owl of some sort, but no, it's a hawk.
It flew from one pole to another as we followed it to get the shots and then few off into the desert.